We want everyone to see American exceptionalism in action when we grant full due process rights to even the most vicious criminals because unlike terrorist organizations wreaking destruction around the globe, this country wants peace, democracy and freedom for all.

By Wendy Murphy

The Patriot Ledger, Quincy, MA

By Wendy Murphy

Posted Apr. 27, 2013 at 12:01 AM
Updated Apr 27, 2013 at 1:01 AM

By Wendy Murphy

Posted Apr. 27, 2013 at 12:01 AM
Updated Apr 27, 2013 at 1:01 AM

COMMENTARY

» Social News

The timing of the decision not to try Dzhokhar Tsarnaev as an enemy combatant was odd given that it was announced before we know if the guy may have been acting on behalf of anti-American Jihadi forces “engaged in hostilities against the United States.”

Notwithstanding that he may well fit the legal definition of an enemy combatant, civilian court is a more appropriate venue, but I would have announced the decision by saying something like this:

“We have no doubt this was terrorism and that the violence was committed by individuals engaged in hostilities against the United States on behalf of Jihadi forces, but we will proceed in civilian court because we want the world to know why America continues to be the strongest nation on earth.

“We want everyone to see American exceptionalism in action when we grant full due process rights to even the most vicious criminals because unlike terrorist organizations wreaking destruction around the globe, this country wants peace, democracy and freedom for all.”

Boasting about the reasons we provide even monstrous killers with due process is smart for many reasons, including that it rebuts the implication that we chose civilian court in order to placate Tsarnaev’s possible bosses on the other side of the world by agreeing to go easy on the guy.

It’s important not to appear timid at a moment in a time when “Boston Strong” T-shirts are flying off the shelves. By explaining the differences between a military tribunal and a civilian judicial proceeding, our enemies can be shamed into appreciating the value of fair justice in a healthy democracy by watching one of their own be treated with more respect than he deserves.

That Tsarnaev will enjoy significantly more constitutional protections than he would have if he were prosecuted as an enemy combatant is a show of American strength through the antithesis of violence and force; by the calm display of moral, political and legal superiority.

Reasonable people argue that it’s cruelly ironic to afford the full force of the Bill of Rights to a man who not only disavows the American Constitution but never would have had a chance to conspire with his brother to commit mass murder in the first place had he not been protected by the Bill of Rights. In the country from which he fled with his family as a little boy, and obtained asylum here precisely because they had no freedom in their native land, the Tsarnaev brothers would have been killed by the government for simply expressing anti-government views. They’d have been dead long before hatred boiled over into murderous rage. It’s hard to feel good about letting someone who wants to destroy our country benefit from its privileges.

But the advantage of civilian court includes that the public’s right of access will be uninhibited compared to the largely secretive nature of military tribunals. Which is not to say we should expect to hear the full truth in a civilian court because officials will take careful steps not to reveal information that might compromise national security.

Page 2 of 2 - But whether we hear about it or not, it’s safe to assume that important information will be obtained because with the death penalty on the table, Tsarnaev has a strong incentive to tell all that he knows if he wants prosecutors to spare his life.

For now, Tsarnaev will be treated with relative respect, but the patience even of Bostonians will soon wear thin if the guy refuses to accept responsibility or express sincere remorse, and if he declines to tell what he knows about others who pose a risk to the security of this country.